Water Balloon Fight
by Titch360
Summary: Dick decides Tim needs to help him teach Damian how to have fun. What better way than to take advantage of a hot day by the pool? One-Shot.


Water Balloon Fight

"Hey Tim, are you ready yet? It's hot out and the water isn't going to get any more refreshing!" Dick ran into Tim's bedroom, wearing a blue, flower patterned swimsuit and holding a towel by each end around his neck. Tim was sitting on his bed, similarly attired, but in a plain red pair of swim trunks.

"Just about ready, Dick. Hey, remember these?" Tim was holding a small plastic bag that he had found at the bottom of a drawer while looking for his swim suit. It had been so long since Tim had taken the time to just relax by the manor's pool that he had been searching for his swimsuit for twenty minutes. Halfway through he had thought that it would be quicker to just go into town and buy a new one, but if he had listened to himself, he never would have found this little treasure from his youth.

"Are you kidding me? Are those the same water balloons I bought you your first summer here?" Like Dick was trying to do with Damian now, Dick had once had to introduce Tim to the concept of mindless fun. Dick had thought at the time that there was no better place to start than a simple water balloon fight. Both smiled at each other while recalling the memory.

_Flashback_

It had been unseasonably hot in Gotham that early June day. Usually, the beginning of the summer months called for a long patch of 'June Gloom'. However, the skies were clear and bright that day, and Dick was not going to let it go to waste. Fresh home from his second year at college, Dick had taken an interest in the new, shy young teen living in the manor. Bruce may have allowed Tim to live at the manor, but he had kept his distance from the boy. The loss of Jason was too fresh in all of their minds, and Bruce did not want to get hurt like that again. Bruce didn't notice the effect his behavior was having on the new boy with the self-esteem issues, but Dick had seen it right away. He thus went out of his way to include young Mr. Drake in as much as he could around the manor. On that day in particular, Dick planned to take full advantage of the beautiful weather and spend some time at the pool. However, when he went looking for Tim, the teen was nowhere to be found. Dick finally decided to leave a hint for the younger teen, who may or may not have been avoiding Dick. Dick left a swim suit, towel, and a bowl with two full water balloons on Tim's bed, along with the rest of the bag and a note reading: Pool, ASAP. These two are free, but you have to do the rest on your own.

Tim had, in fact, been avoiding Dick. He found it just a bit strange that this person, whom he had barely met a couple weeks ago, had not only seemed to take a liking to him almost instantaneously, but had really only left him alone when he was asleep. Sure, he was a nice enough guy, but is anyone really _that_ happy all the time? Tim really just wanted some time to adjust to his new surroundings and, maybe, mourn the passing of his mother a bit. It was all still so fresh and painful to him, but he wasn't being given a moment to dwell on it.

Maybe this…Dick knew what he was doing after all.

Tim had put on the swim suit, had picked up the towel and the bowl with the water balloons, had walked outside to the pool, and watched silently as Dick swam laps. He eventually sat in a deck chair, still watching Dick swim. It had all seemed so peaceful at the time. Tim began to relax. His time at the manor so far had been so hectic and stressful that he often began to reconsider his decision to accept Bruce Wayne's invitation to come live with him at the manor. But now, sitting there, with no expectations, Tim felt he had made the right choice.

About ten minutes later, as Tim laid back and watched the clouds drift by, Dick finally noticed Tim sitting there and went to throw him into the pool. As he approached, however, Dick's mind was changed instantly. Tim was laying back in a lounge chair, with a dreamy smile on his face and tears streaming from his eyes. Unsure of what to do, as he was still getting used to the 'big brother' role, Dick sat in his own chair and placed a hand on Tim's arm, hoping the gesture was comforting.

It wasn't.

Tim jumped at the contact. He had been in his own world, and had not seen or heard Dick approach.

"What's wrong? Timmy, it wasn't a demand, it was an invitation. If you didn't want to come down here, you didn't have to. I just thought you may want to relax a bit, I didn't want to make you cry or anything…"

Tim cut him off, still unsure if he liked the nickname 'Timmy.' "It's not you, Dick. Everything here seemed so peaceful, I just began thinking how my mom would have liked this. And, I guess, it just hit me. I'm not mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong. I just miss my mom. I should be thanking you. You're the only person here who has taken any time to actually check in on me. You know, I think I only see Bruce at meals?"

"I will have to talk to him about that. He's going through a rough patch right now, too. Maybe the two of you could get together and help each other out? I know he needs it, even though he will fight tooth and nail against it. Give it a shot, I don't think it can hurt anything at this point."

The two sat in silence for a bit. Tim wiped his eyes on the towel and sat back again, looking at the bright blue sky and wondering childishly which of the wispy clouds his mother was looking down on him from. Deep down, he knew he was holding on to impossible, childish superstitions, but it was a nice thought. Perhaps the first nice thought he had had involving his mother since her death. He was shaken out of his reverie a moment later as Dick noticed the smile spreading across the younger teen's face.

"Come on, let's go swimming." Dick was already halfway back to the water when he looked back and saw that Tim wasn't following him. "What's wrong now?"

"Well, I don't know how to say this, but I don't know how to swim." Dick looked flabbergasted. _How could he never have learned to swim?_

Tim caught the look and was quick on the defensive. "It's not like there are many public pools in the slums of Gotham. The public school could barely afford new textbooks every ten years, there was no way they would consider putting in a pool. I guess it just never came up."

Dick taught Tim how to swim that day. He then made sure that they went swimming every day for the rest of that week. The June Gloom started in over the weekend, ending any chance of comfortable swimming weather until the middle of July, but it didn't matter. As often as they could, the boys went swimming.

_End flashback_

"You know, we never did use those two balloons." Dick smiled as Tim reminded him of the water balloon fight that never happened.

Dick said, "How about we fix that, with our new, unsuspecting target. He needs to learn how to have some fun, much like another little brother did once upon a time."

The two set about filling the water balloons, soon emptying the old bag and filling a bucket with colorful, liquid and rubber projectiles.

"What do you think? Should we pop them in the freezer for a few minutes?" Dick joked, then smiled widely at the horrified look on Tim's face.

"Do you have a death wish or something? Damian is already going to be furious that we are throwing things at him. I think we should leave physical, bodily harm out of the equation. Where is he, anyway?"

Dick smiled evilly. "He set up a training course outside on the grass next to the pool. He has been out there for a couple of hours. And it just so happens that the second floor balcony overlooks his little play area. If we do this right, he will never even see us."

Tim looked skeptical. "And how is it that you can guarantee that little safety net for us?"

Dick's smile widened. "Because, our little assassin set up his course a few days ago and had been hitting it pretty hard. I have been watching him work on it. Pretty impressive stuff, actually. However, yesterday he added a new wrinkle to his workout: Damian has started to run his course blindfolded, to work on spatial awareness. Last I checked, he was still blindfolded."

As they were talking, they walked to the nearest window overlooking the back yard. There, on the lawn next to the pool, Damian was running through his obstacle course. The boy was adding in gymnastic flips and spins to his martial arts in order to weave a seamless, unified path through the obstacles. Damian had obviously been working at it for a while, he didn't miss one trick. As he stopped at the end of his course, the boy turned around, still blindfolded, and smiled to himself. He had made a concession to the weather and had removed his tunic, freeing his arms for greater range of motion. Sweat poured down his chest and young muscles flexed in his small arms. Having done this for the past several days, his chest and back were a deep tan, his scars highlighted more than usual. He had been wearing a full _gi_, but found that the black belt served as an adequate blindfold when no longer holding the tunic in place. Damian took off the blindfold and walked towards the manor, disappearing from the view of his two spying older brothers. While Damian was out of view, the older boys drew silently onto the balcony, readying their projectiles. Seeing Damian without a shirt had emboldened Dick into thinking his plan was a good one. He wouldn't be messing up any of Damian's clothes this way. He knew how particular Damian was about his clothes and appearance. Messing up an outfit for a prank would surely have added to the future anger Dick knew would be coming. _But it would be so worth it_.

Damian soon came back into view, taking a long drink from a water bottle. However, it was what was in his other hand that caused Tim to blanche as he raised his arm to deliver a liquid lesson in fun.

"Abort, Dick, abort!" Tim hissed urgently, pulling his older brother out of sight just in time. "He has a sword! No way in hell am I launching one of these at him while he is carrying a deadly weapon!"

"Relax, Tim. Look, he's putting the blindfold back on. We will never have a better chance than now."

Damian moved off, back to the beginning of his course, readjusting his blindfold and beginning his next run. The course consisted of several logs of varying height, angle, and thickness. Damian's sword flashed here and there as he made stabs, thrusts, chops, and parries at his wooden enemies. Both Tim and Dick were impressed with the concentration and precision with which the blindfolded youth executed his run. But, in the end, the prankster won out, and as Damian came near his last obstacle, Dick launched a single water balloon at the boy. Tim could see by the arc and speed of travel that the balloon would make contact with their youngest brother just as he passed the last log. Tim was already starting to turn and thinking of hiding places as the balloon neared its target.

As smoothly as if it had been another pre-arranged target set up by the boy on his course, Damian cocked his head, then, in a single motion, turned and sliced the balloon neatly in half.

Dick stood on the balcony with his jaw hanging to his chest as Tim stopped dead, half turned towards the house, one foot in the air.

All was not well, however. For while Damian had been able to anticipate the incoming projectile, not knowing its composition allowed for the possibility of splash damage.

Damian may have intercepted the balloon, but the internal cargo of water continued on unimpeded to soak its intended target. Not expecting a dousing, Damian let out a string of obscenities in three different languages while ripping off his blindfold and spotting his two brothers on the second story balcony, acting for all the world like statues, perhaps in the hope they wouldn't be spotted.

Damian stalked back to the shade at the side of the manor. He was used to Dick trying some sort of prank by now, and he had to admit, the water had felt good on such a hot day. He was done practicing for now, anyway. Still, no one likes being the target of an ambush. He would have to find a way to get back at both of them.

Dick cautiously walked up behind Damian, making sure his presence was known well in advance before speaking to the boy. "Hey, little D, truce? We just wanted to have a little fun, you know? We didn't mean…"

Tim cut him off, still amazed at his little brother, "How did you do that? That has to be one of the coolest things I have ever seen! You just sliced a water balloon out of mid-air _blindfolded_! How cool is that?"

Damian smiled faintly at the praise. "I was trained as an assassin, we are taught to expect the unexpected."

"Okay, but when did they teach you how to use the force?" Dick asked.

_The force? What the hell is he talking about?_ "I guess I need to train harder. I didn't expect an attack with a potential for collateral damage."

Dick began hesitantly, suspiciously, "You're not mad at me for trying to hit you with a water balloon?"

"I guess not, the splash was refreshing after a workout. Plus, it gives me a reason to plot my revenge against you two now." Dick and Tim paled at the thought of Damian's revenge. "However, if you plan on trying that again, could you at least not throw a rust-causing substance at a 500 year old, antique sword? Give me your towel, I need to get this thing dry, cleaned, and oiled now." Damian went about caring for his favorite weapon, a gift from his grandfather on his seventh birthday, and one of the few good memories he had of his time with the League of Assassins.

After several minutes of intense scrubbing, polishing, and oiling, Damian seemed satisfied that his precious blade was no worse for wear. His older brothers had sat patiently, watching him work, not saying a word until Damian was satisfied that no damage was done. Once finished, Damian noticed the swimwear and asked, "Is there any reason you both are parading around the manor in your underwear?"

Dick sighed, "They're swimsuits, Damian. We were going to go swimming and Tim found these old water balloons and we thought we would have a little fun with you."

"With me?" Damian asked, skeptical of his stated intentions.

"Yes, Damian, _with_ you. Despite what you think, this was not an attack, it was an invitation, to relax a bit and spend some quality time with your brothers." Tim smiled hesitantly at the younger boy, then plowed ahead again. "You know, my first real bonding experience with Dick was over these same water balloons. We just thought you might like to be included in another Wayne extended family tradition."

Damian looked at Tim sideways, then replied, "Okay, I accept. But, perhaps we can save the water balloons? They served as a good training aid."

"Okay, but only if you can keep chopping them up while blindfolded. I swear, that was really cool." Tim was still shocked that he had witnessed Damian stop a water balloon attack, still get hit by the water, and not need to be placed in a straightjacket while he and Dick ran for the hills. _Maybe Dick is right, and he really is starting to loosen up._

Dick stood and said to Damian, "We were going swimming, hurry up and get your swim suit on and join us."

Damian stood up and pulled his work out pants off, revealing his own swimsuit underneath, his was black with a green stripe down the side. He then smiled at Dick as he said, "That was my plan all along. Why do you think I set up my obstacle course so close to the pool?"

Bruce watched from the second floor balcony with a smile as his three sons raced across the deck and threw themselves into the pool, laughing and shouting.

_Just like a real family._

**A/N: While I draw from events in the comics for my stories, I also like to place them in my own, fantasy version of the timeline. I am just guessing at ages for Tim and Dick's early meetings, the ages suit the story more than the official canon timeline. I also don't think I write Tim too well, since my only real exposure to him is from the Batman: the Animated Series cartoon. However, he seems to fit into the stories I am coming up with lately. I do know a bit of his character history, but not official timeline or chronology, just events, so I choose to make up my own.**

**Standard disclaimer: I won nothing. If I had my way, Batman Inc. would never have happened, and my little Demon Brat would never have spent the last year dead. Had he lived (yes, I know he is back now, and I couldn't be happier), I believe that his relationships with his brothers would have improved, which is why many of my stories have OOC, improved or improving relationships. **

**Anyone reading the 'flashback' and 'end flashback' titles, and who are old enough to remember when Wayne's World was a Saturday Night Live sketch, please feel free to imagine Wayne and Garth floating across the page, waving their fingers and making the flashback sound effect. Go ahead, I'll wait. There. Better, right?**

**BTW: Damian's Revenge- much like Montezuma's revenge in its ability to empty your bowels, except this is out of sheer fear, not salmonella from undercooked meat or vegetables washed in pure Mexican river water.**


End file.
